The Second Industrial Revolution

It wasn't long ago that consumers seemed to be held hostage by big industry. As with the food
industry, just a few manufacturers held a near monopoly on making the products we all buy. There has
long been plenty of hand-held and power tools available to the general consumer. But these tools can
only produce parts that meet crude tolerances and still require a great deal of manual labor. To make
precision parts in quantity and cheaply, the hobbyist and small business owner needs machine tools.
This precarious situation began to change with the Maker Movement. The Industrial Age gave
companies with large budgets the ability to make precision parts in quantity for the first time. And now
the Maker Age is putting machine tools into the hands of individuals and small businesses with limited
budgets.